


Do You Know Your Enemy?

by BlackWidowsHill



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Agents of SHIELD, Agents of shield & Avengers, Angst, Coulson is a little bit AWOL at the start, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Natasha and Clint act like mother hens around Skye, OKay so Natasha is totally parenting Skye, Other, PTSD, Stark is just slightly impressed by the three young agents, Team Bonding, because I am a sucker for that stuff, but hopefully be more focused on the family aspects and team bonding, family type, its gonna be one of those fics, just cause they are agents does not mean they do not have feelings, mama may, okay so there is apparently realtionships in this, relationships to come, self inflicted pain, starting from chapter 3 onwards, warning for eating disorder, warnings for stuff like depression, warnings for suicidal thoughts, which is a result of angst, you know characters actually having realistic reactions to horrifying events
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-04-20 17:15:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4795703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackWidowsHill/pseuds/BlackWidowsHill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(on hold)<br/>When the agents take a devastating blow, the Avengers come to help and hide them whilst they lick their wounds.  Expecting a quick recovery, Coulson forgets that his team have been through very traumatic situations in the past few months and are finding it harder than ever to pull themselves back together.<br/>Hence team bonding ensures as they attempted to pull each other back together</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Devastating Blow

 

**Do You Know Your Enemy?**

 

 

Coulson watched in horror as the maniac that they were chasing easily lifted Skye into the air with his powers, leaving her there, suspended, as he laughed hysterically. Skye looked terrified, her eyes were wide, blood dripping from her fingers tips, her mouth moving to form one silent word.

 

_May._

 

Tear streamed from the girls face, pain clear as daylight on her face. The rest of the team lay strewn across the ground as they stared helplessly at the man that held their hacker. The laughter rang out across the field of destruction that they occupied, dead bodies of fellow agents lay around them, their faces forever frozen in a state of fear and pain as they lay in their own pool of blood, all killed in a similar way, all starting with them being held suspended in the air by the maniac.

 

Coulson looked around at his team and surviving agents, Bobbi was hovering protectively over an unconscious Hunter and Simmons, her face snarled as one hand lay on Simmons chest and the other holding a gun at the mad man. Her posture screamed to him, she was in pain, everyone around him was in pain, and she was barely holding herself together, he could see that her hair was half stained with blood. She must have a head injury. This was not good.

 

Fitz was being pushed back by Mack, standing protectively in front of the young scientist, his own face grim as he watched Skye being suspended in the air. He held a grenade in his hand, his gun lying forgotten a few feet away, empty and useless. Fitz was gripping the back of Mack's shirt, his face gripped in fear, unshed tears hanging in his eyes, too afraid of what might happen to Mack if he dared attempt to take down their target.

 

Then there was May. She lay half crouched on the ground, her face set in a grim determination as she calculated the chances of getting both Skye and herself out of here alive. Her muscles were tense as she regarded the situation, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. He wanted to call out. No, don't do it May. He couldn't find the strength in him to do it. They had never encountered someone like this before and he was terrified. He had never felt this type of fear before, not even when he stood up to Loki. He was terrified and he had no idea what to do.

 

The air which previously had been humming with...with something suddenly stop and he found himself screaming out along with the rest of the team.

 

“ _Skye!”_

 

Bobbi's voice held the most pain as she tore herself away from her wounded comrades and stumbled out as she ran towards Skye. She was unsuccessful. He watched as Bobbi barely made any distance between the target and herself before she collapsed in pain, her face showing defeat and fear.

 

Before anyone could ever realise what was going on, May darted from her resting sport, weaving around the attack being thrown her way by the target. The snarl that tore itself from May's throat seemed unreal. Too animalistic. She tore through the field in her attempt to get Skye.

 

Skye. The poor girl was looking on in fear. She felt it too, even though she was suspended in the air, she felt everything around her freeze. She knew what was coming. Skye closed her eyes slowly, letting her body go limp as she gave up on the situation.

 

No. No she can't. She had to hold on. May was coming. May was coming...

 

Screams filled the empty air around them. Skye's screams.

 

Everyone froze them moment they heard Skye scream bloody murder. Looking at Skye, he watched as her body bent in awkward positions, blood pouring from random spots on her body. He watched in horror as Skye's body was being rotated, the extent of the damage being displayed. Skye eyes were empty and hallow, her mouth open in a silent scream of pain and a cry for help.

 

“Hang in there Skye!” He found himself screaming as he attempted to find some strength, he had to help. He had to help May get Skye. Before he even knelt on the ground, Bobbi seemed to fight through any pain she was feeling as she tore after May, he face set in determination as she whipped her battle staves out and then in a impressive show of power, brought it down upon the mad man.

 

He never felt so helpless before.

 

May and Bobbi looked at each other, nodding as they seemed to communicate a plan between each other. He watched in amazement as they two of them moved around each other in a harmony that was memorising to watch. They moved like water as the landed blow after blow on the man.

 

The laughter stopped. He stared at them with a sneer. He seemed to be contemplating his next move, but that was a mistake he was going to regret. It gave May and Bobbi the opening they needed as Bobbi linked her hands together and pushed May high into the air, towards Skye. He watched in a dazed awe as May flew towards Skye, one arm grabbing the girls arm and pulled her close as she fell down to the earth again.

 

Mack ran forward, swatting Fitz's hand off of him as he raced to go help Bobbi, who was know at the mercy of the targets anger. Mack, without any hesitance, brought his fist down on the targets stomach, causing the man to fly off his feet at the unsuspecting blow.

 

He needed to help them. He needed to help his team. He needed to help _his_ organisation. Coulson attempted to stand up, only to fall onto one knee as pain shot up through his leg. He gritted his teeth, he could not let this simple leg pain hold him back. He watched Bobbi as she miraculously found strength from within to not only pull herself from the ground, but to run and fight the mad man. He watched as she pushed any pain she felt away from her mind, he could see the pain on her face with every muscle movement, but, he could also see the determination that only came with one of his agents. Pride surged through him, he felt proud of all his agents as they stood their ground against the monster, to protect humanity.

 

Grimacing, he pushed himself up and staggered his way to May, who was desperately clinging to Skye's limp,bloody body as she ran through the fight. Catching up to her, he grabbed Skye's body of off May and gently cradled the girl in his arms. Staring at May, he understood her. No words were needed to be said as he watch May run back into the line of fire to help her fellow agents.

 

Gripping Skye tightly, he ran to where Fitz was hovering protectively over Hunter and Simmons. He looked petrified, tears stained his face but his eyes told Coulson all he needed to know. Fitz was prepared to do whatever it took to get his team out of here alive.

 

Gently placing Skye down, she mumbled softly, her dazed eyes meeting his, she wanted to fight but she knew that she couldn't. He could see the helplessness that she felt. He crouched down and gently placed a hand on her cheek

 

“Skye, rest, we've got this” He whispered softly, kissing her forehead. He wasn't supposed to do that, he was the director. There were unwritten rules about the relationships between fellow agents, not that he would consider a romantic one between Skye and himself, it was more of a relationship that Fury insisted that would bring down many agents in the field, a family relationship. If Coulson could go back in time with the knowledge he had, he would have adopted Skye in a heartbeat, even if it meant leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. Despite Fury's reservation of family like relationships between his agents, he never discouraged it, saying that it allowed agents to trust other people and relax in a way they couldn't with friends or even with lovers.

 

 

Thinking of the family that he had before he was killed, he knew what he had to do. Fury's order be dammed, he was director know and right now. They needed the Avengers to help them. He needed their enhanced powers. Skye recently has been having reservations about using her powers in a lethal way, deciding to use them only if the situation warrants it. Only this time, she decided a little too late and the target had already over-powered most of the team and had severely injured Skye, making it all that harder to use her powers. He didn't blame Skye at all, it was his fault, May had told him that they needed to speak to Skye to sort this all out. He kept putting it off and now it was a contributing factor in the many reasons that half of his organisation lay dead around him.

 

Looking at Fitz, he pulled out his phone.

 

“Fitz, I need you to phone this number and tell them to use the tracking on the phone to find us and to bring back up. Tell them that there is an enhanced and we are dying. As soon as you answer the phone, say 'Barton, is purple a cool colour?', trust me Fitz, if you do not say that we are not going to get back up and we could die today” He tells Fitz seriously.

 

Fitz just stared at him, slowly grabbing the phone, not entirely comprehending why he needed to do it.

 

“Sir, why can't you just make the call?” He asked, confused.

 

Coulson sighed irritably and threw Fitz a look, honestly there was no time for question, no matter how strange his request was.

 

“Right, I'll be right on it Sir” he mumbled, jogging to a safe distance to make the phone call.

 

Coulson could only hope that Romanoff was in a good mood today for surprises. He watched Fitz talked animately from the side of his eye as he attempted to keep an eye on the fight in front of him. Things seemed to be going okay for the moment, they were all fighting par for par. He just hoped that the team did not slip, because if they slipped for even a moment, it could result in their deaths.

 

“Coulson! Back-up's on their way, they said their pissed at you but they will help and that when this is all over they are going to kill you for real this time” Fitz panted, his hands on his knees as he relayed the information to his superior officer.

 

Coulson just grinned, a little humour in this dark moment. “Good work Fitz, did they give a eta?”

“Yeah, ten minutes” Fitz nodded as replied. He ran a hand through his hair as he crouched down, pulling the first aid kit, which had been careless flung at them by a passing agent, and attempted to help patch up the wounded.

 

Coulson watched out for any threats that was coming their way, as of right now, it was only Fitz and himself protecting the wounded and they could not afford to lose any more agents.

 

It was an agonising ten minutes. He watched as Mack, May and Bobbi attempt to hold off their target. He watched as Bobbi took one too many hits and went down. He watched as Mack and May cover her as she attempted to get back on her feet. It was difficult to watch, he watch Bobbi tilt her head forward in pain as she held herself up on her hands and knees and it was clear that it was over for Agent Morse. He grimaced as he realised he had no way of getting over there and pulling her out of the line of fire without endangering the fight and tipping it in favour of their attacker.

 

“Coulson!” A voice from beside him scream, Natasha Romanoff, he slowly turn to look at her, the helplessness and fear easily displayed on his face as he tried to convey how much of a cluster fuck this mission had turned out to be. They had lost nearly their entire New York (and surrounding areas) agents (not that there were many to begin with) and now they were back to the core team.

 

“Bobbi” was all he managed to say and he was grateful that Natasha understood as she darted into the line of fire and easily picked up Bobbi as if she weighed nothing.

 

“Fuck.” Came a soft voice from behind him, he turned to see his idol, Capitan America, he stood in a momentary daze as he surveyed the area before jumping into battle. Coulson watched as the Avengers came out in full force (almost full force, Bruce was currently residing next to Fitz, attending to the wounded).

 

Their target looked surprised, but quickly recovered with a snarl. However, he was no match for Earth mightiest hero's. He watched, stunned as the Avengers took him down with surprising easiness. The attacker went down easily, laughing hysterically as it happened and screaming nonsense about how he destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D and with a sickening realisation, Coulson doubled over, this man...no, this monster was simply playing with them. He attacked them for no reason other than to annihilate them. He went down easy for the Avengers, because apparently this man held nothing against them but everything against S.H.I.E.L.D, so much so that he was prepared to die in his quest to kill every single one of them.

 

“Coulson” it was May. She placed a hand on his back, silently comforting him as she made the same conclusion as him. Gently tugging on his arm, he followed the silent request to stand as he look at his surviving team of seven; Bobbi, Lance, Mack, May, Fitz, Simmons and Skye. It was horrible. They had a team of thirty based in New York and now they were down to seven.

May slid her hand from his back, down his arm and gently entwined their hands. A silent show of support and comfort.

“Coulson we have to get going. The police are on their way, we, we have to leave them” She said softly, gently pulling him towards the quinjet. Nodding, he silently followed, watching as the injured were carefully carried on board.

 

Today had been a horrible day.

 


	2. Will They be Okay?

**Do You Know Your Enemy**

 

 

What remained of the New York based agents found themselves sitting in a common room in the middle of the Avengers Tower. Most of them sat separately from each other, each lost in their own thoughts, each had horrors playing through their minds.

 

Fitz and Simmons sat on different ends of the same couch, staring helplessly at each other. Simmons was carelessly picking at the quilt which lay neatly on her lap, biting her lip anxiously. When they had first arrived, she had made it her mission to tend to everyone's wounds. She managed to patch up all the physical wounds of her friends, blatantly ignoring her own wounds. Simmons had been irritated at certain members of the team as they had refused to go to the medical bay that Tony Stark had and instead opted to lie across a couch or chair in the common.

 

Bobbi and Skye had been the main ones to protest a stay in medical. Simmons couldn't help but worry about the two of them, there was a look in their eyes that she couldn't quite place, but she was finding it more and more easy to compare the eyes of her fellow team mates to her superiors, Agent May's eye, after she had held the Berserker staff. Simmons wasn't daft, and she certainty was not immune to her own emotions, but she would much rather hold Bobbi and Skye in her arms and tell them exactly how everything was going to be alright, but things might not be alright. She had never seen her team in such a state of despair, she had been unconscious for most of the battle, having only witnessed some of the deaths and she could only imagine the horrors that the rest of them faced.

 

Fitz had been unnaturally quiet since he came to the Avengers Tower, he thought that if he did ever come here he would be constantly nitpicking Tony Stark's brain, but instead, he was sitting in a semi-solitude silence, observing Simmons as she watched the rest of the team with worry. He tried telling her to worry about herself for once, she had taken some serious blows during the fight and was taken down with a scarily easiness. He never again wanted to hear Simmons scream out like that again. He shuddered just thinking about it. It was a general rule amongst agents that you take a hit, you take a small recovery time (the unofficial limit on recovery time was two days) and then you bounce back again, get back into the nitty gritty work that was involved in being an agent of shield, but as he looked over his silent team mates, he wondered if they would ever bounce back, especially Bobbi who had already considered leaving after her intense torture period with Ward. Shuddering, he tried to rid his thoughts of the man that had caused him so much pain and plagued his nightmares every time he closed his eyes. He wished he could go back in time and tell everyone that he was an enemy, he wasn't to be trusted, that he was a backstabbing bastard. Closing his eyes, he tried not to think of Ward as he curled up on the couch. He wished the world could just go blank for a few moments, just a few.

 

Skye couldn't cope. When her eyes were open, she saw the aftermath of the horrors that she and the team faced. When she closes her eyes, she see's all the horrors that they have all faced, all the facial expressions of hopelessness, terrified and lost looks on her friends face throughout the few years she has spent with them. She watched as they, herself as well, bounced back from everything that the world threw at them. However, after shield fell, despite the determination everyone felt toward keeping the organisation going, she watched as her team mates found it harder and harder to bounce back. Often when they should have been taking time to physically and mentally recover from a mission, she found them reading through missions that needed to be completed or training. Never resting. Never stopping. Now, now they have a moment of rest. No one needed their help, not yet anyways, no mission needed their attention. Just silence.

 

It was making everything worse.

 

The silence was allowing them all to think over everything that has happened to them since the fall of shield, and honestly, Skye felt like she could speak for everyone when she said it was not good. She turned on the couch, facing away from everyone and curled up. She had her arms clinging to her torso, as if that would help her from falling apart. She ignored the tears that stung her eyes as she concentrated on not losing it completely. There was so many things that have happened that were a direct result of Skye's actions. She had caused her own team, those she claimed to be her family, so much pain and she did not know if she could live with that guilt. She wanted to go to a more private place to be with her thoughts, but Simmons refused to let her be out of her sight. It was either sit in the common room with everyone else, or be in the medical bay and right now, Skye wished she had chosen to stay in medical, because at least then she didn't have to be around anyone. How could they not see that she was to be blamed for all this? How are they not disgusted with her. How have they not thrown her away yet and replaced her with someone better, someone more easier, someone that wasn't her? She couldn't understand. Skye pulled the hood of her hoodie over her head, trying to block out the visual of her team and tried to ignore all the pain she was feeling.

 

May watched from the doorway of the common room, her phone lazily held in her hand as she waited impatiently for Coulson to phone her. The man had stayed for the screaming match of “how could you?” between himself and the avengers and the apologising before he darted out the tower, for some reason he took Mack with him and was stating that he had business elsewhere as he left. May frowned. It was the worst possible time for him to do that, whilst she knew, logically that he was now the director of shield and thus had limited time to spend with his original team. Still, they needed him, that much was clear. She was watching them sit in silent pairs or solitude, each one's face either emotionless or haunted, she could tell that if they weren't already at their breaking point, they would be within a few missions.

 

Sighing, she rested her head against the doorway and wondered what she was going to do. She couldn't help all of them at once – but she would try her damn hardest- and it would be difficult to get some of them to open up. Whilst her relationship with Skye had vastly improved over the year, she knew that the girl would keep everything to herself, to try and not burden anyone with her problems. More than once Coulson or herself quietly consoled the girl in the middle of the night because she refused to outright accept the support and comfort of off them.

Glancing at Bobbi, she saw her curled up, looking sad but content to just be lying in Hunter's arms. Hunter had became very protective of Bobbi once she came back from her time with Ward. He was a lot more caring and the arguments seemed to be down to petty little things, like how Bobbi should stop stealing his shirts – normal couple arguments- and more importantly, he seemed to trust her now. May knew that Bobbi had appreciated that and was trying to let him know that she trusted him as well.

 

Hunter was lazily running his finger tips over Bobbi's arm as she pushed herself further against him, resting her head in the crook of her neck. Her eyebrows furrowed in worry as she watched Fitz and Simmons. May knew that the women had a soft spot for the two scientist, especially Simmons, the need to protect the girl had never quite left after their time in hydra.

 

The Avengers walked quietly into the room, trying to not be invasive, but their mere presence was like a scream in the silent room. All the occupants -minus Skye- looked up at those who entered, feeble smiles on their faces as they tried to show their gratitude through the pain and despair.

 

“You all look pretty worn out, we're thinking of ordering in, any request?” Pepper asked quietly, looking at those who occupied the chairs of the room.

 

When Pepper didn't receive an answer, to avoid the silence May answered for them “form what I've experienced, I'd say a Chinese is the general go to take out amongst them”

 

May walked quietly over to the couch Skye occupied, touching her arm lightly as she pulled her legs off to take a seat, smiling lightly at the look Skye gave and simply patted the space next to her. The look on her face was letting Skye know that this was not a request.

 

“Let the other people sit down rookie” she murmured.

 

Skye sighed but did as she was asked and dragged her body to sit near May, once in her new seat, she pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees as she stared blankly ahead. The others followed May's silent order and manoeuvred themselves to allow the avengers to sit down.

 

Once everyone had obtained a seat, there was a rare – and awkward- silence amongst them. May watched as Rogers, Stark and Banner sent each other nervous looks as Natasha and Clint made themselves comfortable on the couch she sat on. The two of them sending her small grins before they fell back into neutral expressions. What was worrying her was that the three youngest of the team, who idolised these people, were barely reacting to their presence at all.

 

The elevator door opened and Maria Hill walked out, looking quite flustered and holding a bag of something that May couldn't quite make out.

 

“Hey guys, sorry I'm late, I got caught up buying...these...something” she finished lamely as she took in the atmosphere of the room. She quickly glanced at May and raised an eyebrow as she then proceeded to take in the faces of her former employees and understood the situation immediately and knew what she had to do. Walking over to May, she dropped the bag on her lap and without explaining, she walked up behind Fitz and Simmons and rested a hand on their shoulders.

 

“Fitz, Simmons, why don't you explain to Stark and Banner how your icers works and where you got the inspiration from them, I was going to explain to Stark about it but he told me that he would rather hear it from someone who actually knew what they were talking about. Dick” She finished with a grumble, glaring at Tony.

 

He grinned at her before moving closer to Fitz and Simmons, May watched as their eyes lit up a little as they slowly began to explain the gun they developed.

 

Moving around the room to where Bobbi and Hunter sat, she gripped Bobbi chin and titled her head back to meet her eyes.

 

“Hey agent, long time no see, huh?” she said softly, May could see the old fondness that Maria had for Bobbi back when they were both rookies under herself and Natasha. They two of them got on like to peas in a pod and it wasn't uncommon for Natasha and herself to find them either making out somewhere or curled up sleeping on one of their beds.

Maria kissed Bobbi's forehead softly and muttered something, too quiet for May to hear, into Bobbi's ear and moved over to where she sat with Skye, Natasha and Clint. She observed them quietly, as if deciding on a topic that would get Skye to open up.

“Oh I know” she mumbled “Bob, c'mere, you and I are going to share the horror that is known as rookie days with May and Romanoff” she teased, lowering herself gracefully to the floor, resting against her old mentor's leg as she waited for Skye to process the information that she was just given.

 

One blink. Two blinks. Three blinks.

 

Skye turned her head to face Bobbi as she walked over to their group with a sheepish expression as Skye began to glare at her accusingly.

 

“So, did I forgot to inform you that Natasha spent some time train?” she asked Skye, the glare she got caused several of them to chuckle as Bobbi joined Maria on the floor.

 

“You know fine well you did Bobbi Morse” She mumbled, glaring. The most she had said since they arrived at the tower. May let a small smile show as she placed her hand on Skye's lower back, a silent show of encouragement and support. Skye quickly glanced at her, the outline of a smile on her face as she turned back to Bobbi, who had begun her tale of her terrible first day of training with Natasha. That story was never going to get old.

 

May looked into the bag that Maria had brought out and resisted the urge to chuckle. Her favourite brand of tea and the team's favourite type of hot chocolate.

 

Glancing around, she saw the remains of the team's normal personalities shine through as they discussed the things they loved. One thing that almost made her laugh outright was the look on Hunter's face as he talked to Rogers and Thor. Coulson was going to have a field day when she told him that Hunter seemed to share his obsession with Captain America.

 

Maybe they would be okay, maybe not now, maybe not for a very, very long time, but maybe some day. They seemed fine for the moment, but she wondered how long that would last as she watched throughout the conversation as Skye seemed to withdraw little by little, letting others dominate the discussion and tears filled her eyes.

 

At least May hoped they would be okay some day.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So sorry about the wait for the new chapter, things happened and then I was focusing on my main story at the moment which is operation shadows, but now that that story is up and running and the plot is totally developed and written down somewhere so I won't forget, I'm able to focus on my other stories! Like this one! This chapter gives a little more insight into May and Maria and is slowly setting up for the next chapters. Hope you enjoy it!

May stood up, silently signalling Maria to follow her to the kitchen as Bobbi and Natasha were half way through their story of Bobbi having to take lead on a mission after being separated from Natasha on a mission. She poured herself something strong to drink, as well as one for Maria. She slid it over the counter work top and silently down her own drink as she watched Maria do the same. The two of them stared at each other in silence for a while before May spoke up.

“Thank you” She muttered, her eyes flickering to her team out in the open area, all mingling hesitantly “I honestly don't know what I could have done to help them, probably the only one I could help would be Skye. Generally she just accepts some form of affection and gets over what ever happened to her, but I don't think this will be the case. What happen, out there...was pretty horrific and honestly, I've never been more grateful that I wasn't facing the brunt of the situation. That was mostly Bobbi and Skye.” May explained, pointedly looking at the two women, looking more fragile than their team mates – Skye looked like she was about to either pass out or cry. The women had a quick check up when they came in but hasn't received any further medical attention. She should probably make sure the girl gets checked out before she makes her injuries worse.

“It's alright, I used to do this for a living, remember? Being Deputy Director wasn't all about making important decisions, you know” Maria said teasingly, before sobering up “You wouldn't know it, but the STRIKE teams often needed a pep talk, some comfort, heck, half the team I told them what they needed to do to help themselves. It was like they were incapable of being able to do it themselves. It was a well kept secret in S.H.I.E.L.D, couldn't have the agents thinking that the best of the best couldn't handle the shit that they face. It would have caused all sorts of problems.

Honestly, it's not the first time I've had to help Bobbi like this. I know exactly how to help her – or, at least I did when Hunter wasn't around... FitzSimmons aren't that hard to figure out, distract them and give them small pushes here and there and they will eventually talk about what happened to them, add in some affection and space, they should be fine. Eventually. For Hunter, I'd suggest letting him wail on Rogers and spend time with Bobbi, should help him out, get the anger and frustration out on the situation and Bobbi will provide whatever else he needs.” Maria said, finishing with a little sigh as she looked over at Bobbi and Hunter with a little jealousy.

May wondered if Hill was even aware that she does that, she would bring it up later with the women.

Maria redirected her eyes to Skye “ As for your black sheep... honestly? I'm not too sure. The women clearly idolises the Avengers and yourself. She seems needy for any information on you guys, yourself especially. What's your relationship with her?” Maria questioned, turning to May as she poured them another shot.

May shrugged a little “Our relationship was rocky at the start. I didn't trust her, she was a liability, she made Coulson think with his heart instead of his brain and had some tension with the fucking traitor and myself. The only people she got on with were FitzSimmons, but I didn't think she would last in the team, even with the friendship struck up with FitzSimmons – they were too good and innocent compared to her, she liked to break rules and speak whatever came to her mind. Brash and outgoing and Fitz and Simmons weren't that. They kept to themselves a lot, thought things through and followed the rules to a tee - yet she worked.

She made the team, a team. I have no idea how she done it but she just managed to pull us together, even when we pushed back and broke down her hope over and over. She just got back up and managed to inspire us with her resilience. The more you got to know her, the more you realised she had a lot more common with Fitz and Simmons than we originally thought. She was innocent, wanted to believe in the best in everyone. Every rule she broke, she broke with the moral compass of Captain America. She had everyone's best interest at heart, she tried her best with what she was given with, the situations she's face. She seemed to remain unchanged by what happened to her.

 With all these changes in our situations, to her, the traitor and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D, we got closer. After the fall and Ward was revealed for who he was, I offered to train her and from there on out we just got closer. I taught her how to shoot properly, how to fight hand to hand, heck I had to teach her the basics. I thought Ward had done all this already when training her, but we made the guess that he wasn't actually training her, mainly for the fear that when it came to the reveal, he would have to face one more trained specialist.” Melinda said, feeling like she talking more now with her old rookie more than she has over the past few years. Melinda rested against the work top, sighing, her shoulders sagging as she regarded Skye from where she sat next to Bobbi.

“If there is one thing I am sure about, it is that I care a lot about the girl. She's had a tough life and she needs someone in her corner and for the first time, since yourself actually, I'm able to be that person. Stupid kid has a way to worm herself into everyone heart.” May finished fondly.

Maria nodded to herself, noticing the change in her mentor. She embraced the change as it was nice to see her happy for once and open, even if it was about her new rookie. Maria had an inkling that Melinda more than cared for Skye, she was pretty sure Skye was another her. Maria knew fine well that May viewed her as a daughter, the relationship that they had during her rookie days never changed, not even with the change in positions of who was in charge. Maria would always respect Melinda's view over everyone else and took her input in more than anyone else. Fury knew it, but he never said anything. He would shake his, but he understood. He understand the background that Maria came from and that she needed May, just as much as May needed her. And Natasha. Melinda needed Natasha.

Maria looked over at Natasha and caught her eye. Natasha raised an eyebrow at her, looking slightly curious. Maria shrugged in response, her eyes flicking to Skye, hoping that she conveyed what was going on and Natasha responded with a slight 'oh'. Natasha glanced at Skye, the girl looked worn down and ready to pass out.

Natasha stood up with a small smile and pulled Skye up; “time to change your bandages and see what the damage is – don't worry Simmons, I've got a lot of experience in this, I've been around shit like this for a lot of time.” Natasha said smoothly, reassuring the scientist as she moved to the kitchen with Skye.

Maria pulled out their medical supplies that they had stashed out all over the tower for instances like this – you would be surprised how often this happened – and cleared a space for Skye. The women walked like a zombie behind Natasha, apparently not even stories about May before the team seemed to pull her out of the state she was in. Natasha, with the help of Maria, guided the women onto the counter work top and pulled off her tank top as well as the bandages that covered her body from the fight.

Maria and Natasha worked in tandem to clean Skye's wound carefully. Skye had only been in the med wing to get the stitches she needed from the wounds of the madman that basically tortured her in mid-air. Skye shuddered slightly from their touches, no doubt feeling like ice to the girl as her skin was red and burning. Natasha glanced at Maria, who seemed to be inspecting the wounds with the same scrutiny that she was.

“I think we need to get some antibiotics in you, Skye.” May mumbled from behind them, she was inspecting Skye's body from where she stood. She moved closer to the younger women and gently pulled her to lean against her chest. Skye gripped the top tightly, trying to stop the tears and whimpers from escaping her mouth.

May gestured for them to keep working on Skye as she provided comforting words to the girl. She ran her hand through Skye's hair, noting how knotted it was and stained from blood and god knows what else. She made a mental note to make sure Skye showered after they got food in her. Pepper said that dinner shouldn't be much longer and she only hoped that her team would eat.

Natasha and Maria finally finished re-bandaging Skye and applying the healing cream, Maria mumbled about talking to Banner or Simmons to get some antibiotics pre-scribed to Skye for her potentially infected wounds. Natasha stood back from Skye and watched as May helped her back into her top before pulling her close again. Skye simply just let May hold her, her chin resting on her shoulder as she stared blankly ahead. The only sign that Skye was aware of what was going on what the death type grip she had of May's shirt and even then there was the probability that it was just a natural reaction.

 Natasha inspected Skye, having heard about her through May. For the past few years May had talked to her constantly about Skye. Skye started out as the annoying liability, to the decent hacker, but still annoying to the unbeatable hacker and half decent operative to finally settling in on the best rookie S.H.I.E.L.D has had since Maria. The progression of affection was hard to miss in the talks that she had with May.

Not many people knew about Natasha's relationship with May, most people just thought that they were close work friends form their days as part of STRIKE team Delta, but it was so much more than that. Natasha and May were so much closer, the days after Bahrain may have been hard on their relationship, but they survived. May was different and if affected their relationship, but they made it work. This was Natasha's first glance at the old Melinda May and honestly, she felt like she should be jealous that this kid that appeared out of nowhere was the one to help bring Melinda May back but she couldn't find it in herself to blame the kid. Actually, she was happy that the kid was helping her wife, happy that she was brining out the old Melinda May and whilst Natasha was perfectly happy with Melinda, it was nice to see the more openly affection version of herself back. Maybe now she could flaunt her wife in front of the others, it used to be her favourite past time.

Right now, however, she needed to let Melinda know that she was perfectly okay with the relationship that she had with Skye, that she understood that Skye was another Maria...no, not another Maria, another adopted stray, another daughter. Maybe next time it could be her turn to adopt a kid. Natasha fought to keep the smile off her face because it was just hilarious that she got herself into these situations. It never crossed her mind when she signed up for S.H.I.E.L.D that she would meet the love of her life, marry her and be siblings to two of the biggest idiots in the world – Coulson and Barton – or adopt a a grown women – Maria – who clearly had a crush on another one of their rookies – Bobbi - who they took under their wings, and now, Mel seemed to have adopted another grown women – Skye – and taken the two scientist under her wing – Fitz and Simmons. It was so weird, especially when you added the Avengers to the list because honestly, who else was going to help Rogers adjust to the 21st century? Certainly not Stark or Fury. So clearly it was up to Natasha to mother hen the man (as well as all the others that apparently she and Melinda now care for).

“You know you get this cute look on your face when you think too hard. You need to stop before you hurt yourself” May teased her wife softly, pulling Natasha from her thoughts.

Natasha scowled lightly, whacking May on her the shoulder lightly. “The only one hurting themselves here is you by showing affection. The Wicked Witch of the West has clearly been melted by our own little Dorothy” Natasha snarked back, knowing that May wouldn't be hurt by what she said, mainly because she calls her that on a daily basis as a joke. The two of them heard a junior agent call Mel that and it just stuck amongst their group. Natasha moved forward, wrapping her arms around May's waist, carefully avoiding Skye's arms. She glanced around May to look at their own personal Dorothy, only to see that there was no change in the girls facial expression. Which was worrying since May told her that the kid was always excited to learn more about May; Natasha thought for sure that this would shock her out of her state. Apparently not.

May turned her head lightly and kissed Natasha's cheek “Our own little Dorothy?” Melinda questioned, raising an eyebrow and choosing not to comment on being called the wicked witch of the west.

“Just showing you my support. If Skye's important to you, she's important to me, it's not like I can say anything as I've taken Rogers under my wing, he's like... he's like the puppy of our weird family, or something like that anyway.” Natasha explained, running a hand through Mel's hair.

Melinda hummed “Yeah, I guess he is. We should probably move to the open area for food, Skye needs to eat. Then she needs a shower and some sleep.” Melinda mumbled, moving back from Skye, only for the girl to give a strangled cry and her eyes widening in panic. May swiftly pulled Skye off the counter and into a hug, soothing the girl with softs words as she meet Natasha's eyes, worry filling them both at her reaction.

“Skye? You heard what I said, remember, to the open area for food, then shower and sleep. I'l be with you the whole time and if not, Nat will be. She seems scary but really she is a big softie” Melinda whispered reassuringly into the girls ear. Skye seemed to relax and allowed a little bit of personal space between herself and May, but kept close to her as she guided her into the open room.

 The others looked up briefly as they entered, Maria, who was now sitting holding Bobbi's legs, raised a curious eyebrow, but Melinda just shook her head. Her eyes promising that she would explain later.

“So, where's Pepper and Stark?” Natasha asked happily as she flopped onto the empty couch with Skye and Melinda. She slung her arm over the back of Melinda as she grinned at everyone, pointedly ignoring the low mood.

“Here” Came Pepper's voice as she walked out the lift with her hands filled with bags of food as well as Tony. “We got the food, so everyone help yourself” She said as she placed everything down on the low tables in front of them.

There was a pause before Fitz and Simmons slid onto the floor, sitting Indian style as they began to help themselves to food, Natasha followed their example, pulling May down with her (rolling her eyes of course) as she guided Skye to the floor and made up a plate for the women.

 Everyone soon followed their example, Bobbi wincing as Hunter and Maria helped stretch her legs out (although this was after everyone insisting that she stay on the couch because of her knee). There was a gently murmur of talk through out dinner, no one really wanting to talk about the elephant in the room. One by one everyone set their utensils down, showing signs of tiredness.

May regarded her team, they all looked shattered, as though a gently blow of wind would break them into tiny pieces and that, that was not a good look.

“I think it's time we probably retire, we can talk about what happened in the morning” May said quietly, addressing the Avengers as a whole, who cast glances at their guests. It was clear as daylight that they needed rest.

“Of course” Pepper responded just as quietly “We'll show you to the guest quarters for tonight and then talk about arrangements tomorrow in regards to everything.” Pepper stood up gracefully, waiting for everyone else to pick themselves up.

Maria was helping Hunter pull up Bobbi as she glanced at him over Bobbi's shoulders. He was giving her weird looks again, which made Maria wonder if Bobbi every told him the true nature of their relationship. Right now, she wishes that Bobbi has so that she could sleep with them tonight without any hassle. She wanted to make sure Bobbi was safe and would have a restful sleep, not one of constant tossing, turning and filled with nightmares.

 She raised an eyebrow at the man, daring him to say anything in front of everyone. If he wanted to talk, then that was fine, but they would talk about it in private. Maria did not like airing her personal life in front of everyone. Hunter shrugged in response to the intense looks Maria was giving him and gestured for her to lead the way. Maria nodded and helped guide Bobbi into the lift with everyone else.

The ride up was silent, but the looks everyone kept sending each other filled the silence. The tension soon filled the air as they were aware of the sudden changes in relationships and their own personal responses to the trauma that they have been through. Before the tension could mount to anything, and really no one knew exactly _why_ they were mad at each other, they just _were_ , the doors opened with the soothing voice of JARVIS telling them that they have arrived at the guest quarters. They all piled out with a thanks to Pepper and giving each other a glance, they all fled to different rooms.

Pepper sighed as she caught Natasha's eyes, the women was about to enter a room with Melinda and Skye, Natasha flashed her a sympathetic smile.

“Don't worry about it Pep, they are grateful, they've just had a rough day, that's all.” Natasha explained

Pepper nodded in response “Will I just tell the others you'll be staying here for the night?”

“Yeah, let them know that Maria will most likely be here as well. God knows Stark likes to bother the women at stupid hours in the morning.” Natasha said, a small smile on her face

“He likes to bother all of us at stupid hours in the morning, Natasha” Pepper mumbled back, shaking her head as she entered the lift “Good night.” She called, glancing over her shoulder.

“Night Pepper” Natasha responded, entering into the room that Melinda had claimed as her, or claimed as Skye's but was just camping in it for the night.

Natasha watched as Melinda took Skye into the bathroom, turning on the shower and helping the women undress. It was clear that Skye was still in her zombie like state and wasn't truly aware of her surroundings. She wondered if the girl was able to do anything herself tonight, or if she would need Melinda's constantly company.

Melinda walked out of the bathroom, leaving the door open to make sure Skye was okay. She flopped ungracefully onto the bed next to Natasha, turning on her side to look at her wife.

“Hey” She mumbled softly, reaching out to stroke Natasha's cheek.

“Hey yourself, cutie.” Natasha mumbled back, watching Melinda's face for signs of, well, anything negative she supposed. She wanted to support her wife in anyway she could. Natasha wasn't stupid, she knew Melinda faced somethings over the past few months that were horrifying, that she faced some of her own demons and that, from watching her today, she hasn't been dealing with them. Too bust looking after her 'ducklings'. 

“How have things been” Melinda asked, still stroking Natasha's cheek, her eyes dropping a little.

“Really Mel? Small talk?” Natasha asked, not really surprised by her wife.

Melinda just shrugged and moved closer to Natasha, sliding an arm over her waist and nestling her face in the crook of her neck. Natasha's face softened a little as she ran her hand up Melinda's back. Sometimes what Mel needed was small acts of affection, rather than talk things out. Especially when tired. Mel was a coddler as well, so Natasha wasn't really surprised by Melinda's actions. She simply hummed, keeping up the running over her finger tips over her back.

The two of them stayed like that until Natasha noticed the room getting a little too humid and steam flowing freely from the bathroom. Natasha sprang up, causing slight confusion with her drowsy wife as she rolled over to look at the bathroom, sitting up as Natasha investigated the situation.

“Skye?” Natasha called, knocking loudly on the door, walking in. The steam was too thick to see anything, causing Natasha to frown as she progressed further into the bathroom, gently opening the shower door. Natasha gasped at what she saw and shot inside the shower;

“SKYE”

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Melinda was lying silently on the bed, thinking about the events that just happened a few hours ago. Natasha had ran into the bathroom to check on Skye after the realised that the room was just steaming up and hearing no noise form the shower. The shout that Natasha had gave made Melinda heart speed up, and not in a good way. She had leapt from the bed and followed Nat into the bathroom, only to be greeted by the sight of Nat pulling Skye from the shower, the girl lying limp in her arms. Not necessarily unconscious, just not aware of what was going on. Skye eyes were blank as she allowed Natasha to set her against the wall, covering Skye's body with a towel to try and keep some modesty for the girl incase she acknowledge what was going and then Nat began to assess Skye's body. 

The shower was still steaming the room up, filling up the silence as they took in Skye's body. It was completely red, blistering in some area's from the intense heat, a heat that Melinda did not know showers could get up to. In a building with an A.I, you would think Stark had designed it to have certain safety measures installed, like controlling the temperature of the showers. 

After taking in Skye's body and checking her old wounds, Natasha and May had applied some burn cream to help soothe the blistering skin and they would have Simmons or Banner check her out tomorrow morning, just to be safe. 

Melinda looked down at the girl that was currently curled up into her side. She was aware that Skye received the brunt of the attack. The image of Skye hanging in mid-air, her body slowly rotating, showing off all of her wounds before completely wrecking havoc on the girls body, was not something she would soon forget. It had been terrifying. The entire mission. They had lost a chunk of their agents, their top specialists were now residing in the Avengers tower, nursing their wounds and Coulson was off galavanting somewhere with Mack. 

That was only the tip of the problem. 

Simmons was building up to an emotional breakdown, that she was sure of. The poor women never really had much time to process the betrayal of Ward, the near death experience of being at the bottom of the ocean with Fitz, going undercover at Hydra when she was barely even prepared and then trying to help Fitz once she came back, only to be completely rejected. It was difficult to witness your best friend seemingly turn into another person, one that couldn't stand to be in the same room as you, never mind start a conversation with and vent out her feelings. It had gotten better recently, the two of them could be near each other but they still were not talking. It was a lot to deal with and not enough time to deal with it. Then, on top of all that, you have the mission they were just on and honestly Melinda thought that this would be the last straw for Simmons before having a meltdown. 

The women was strong, Melinda would never dare say anything else and if anyone tried to say something else, the would be hearing from Melinda in seconds. However, everyone has their breaking points. Where they experience something so traumatic, so terrifying that they just can't handle it and everything just seems to fall apart and it feels like the weight of the world has been dropped onto your bruised and unstable shoulders. An impossible weight to carry alone. 

She almost sighed thinking about Simmons. If Melinda was right, she would need someone and she wasn't exactly the most open and caring person around. She showed her affection for people by either beating them up, or someone that has hurt them up. Majority of the time both. Unless it was Natasha. 

The way she showed affection worked for Skye. The pushing to achieve more, the silent approval (occasionally backed up with the verbal approval) and occasional physical contact. It worked. Well, rather, it had been working. Recently Skye's been clinging to her a lot more and it was getting harder and harder to deny the girl what she wants. Especially now. It was also harder to deny to Coulson that no, she has not adopted another fully grown adult women. 

But Simmons wasn't Skye, she thrives more on authority figures telling her she's done well, that she did the right thing, plus physical touch. At least, that is what she can gather. When Simmons had came back from Hydra, Melinda had asked Morse to look out for her, make sure she's okay. That she was sleeping and eating. It was identified early on when Simmons returned from the mission, that one of the problems she experienced in adjusting back to her normal life was that she would barely eat. Coulson and May would watch the girl eat little bits that Morse offered her at meal times. Morse had assured them that outside of meal times she was managing to get Simmons to eat a bit more. It eased their worried knowing that Bobbi was looking out for her. 

It was strange to think that Simmons only came back two month ago. So much has changed in such a short space of time. They thought they were doing well, they thought they were progressing. Skye was doing well with her training. She was fast tracking herself to become another S.H.I.E.L.D specialist. Simmons had brought forward brilliant information on Hydra and was back working in the labs. Morse, Hunter and Mack had joined their team, more field agents and they had the other wayward agents join as well.Even Fitz was improving. Everything seemed to be going good. 

Until it wasn't. Trip died. Hartley died. Skye got powers and met her parents, who were still on the loose and hunting down Skye. Bobbi was kidnapped by Ward, tortured to the brink of death. Coulson seemed to be losing control of everything and Hunter was out for revenge. Plus their S.H.I.E.L.D psychologist went missing, Andrew Gardner. It was a man Melinda had went on a few dates that went nowhere. He was still a friend, he still helped Skye when she came back with her powers. He helped Simmons when she came back from her stint in Hydra. Then he was helping Coulson by looking through the journals of Jiaying, Skye's mother, and seeing what he could make of them. 

When Skye got her powers, she had been instantly whisked away by a blur of blue light. She had appeared three weeks later with the ability to control the vibrations of anything around and cause earthquakes...as well as covered in bruises. Skye had attempted at hiding everything that happened to her at first, afraid of the reactions of the team. Understandably, they were shocked when Skye had told them that she found her parents, that her mother had a gene called the “inhuman gene”, basically it meant they were half human, half alien. Kree, to be precise. Which cause wary looks to go round the team. It had been unsettling at first, but most of the team quickly reassured Skye that they would not treat her any differently. 

Mack had hesitated to accept Skye, he still was. Everyone had tried to talk to him about before Skye told them to leave him alone, that she understood where he was coming from. He had also went down into that tunnel, only to be mind controlled by some ancient form that wanted a tour guide for inhumans to go through the transitioning in the ancient city. That he had ever right to be wary of her. 

After that everyone left him alone and thinks slowly seemed to be getting back to normal. Skye started using her powers on the mission, they had some instances, nothing that they thought was too traumatic for the girl, but they were wrong. Simmons and Fitz were slowly able to be in one room at the same time, things were getting back to normal. Then Ward happened. The things were slowly getting back to normal, no one knew if Bobbi was going to be okay again after finding out the extent of her knee injury, but things were getting back to where they were. If Melinda and Coulson found the team sleeping in a giant pile in the common area, they didn't say anything. If that's what help, that is what helped. Who were they to say otherwise?

Then Coulson thought the team could use an easy going case of trying to recruit a enhanced human. Only, it wasn't as easy as they thought and everything went to shit again. Now the New York and surrounding S.H.I.E.L.D team has been reduced to eight people. Eight. 

Melinda wasn't going to kid herself into thinking that they could bounce right back from this, had has been brewing for months, the damage was too extensive this time. They needed help, they needed people who were more used to fighting enhanced. The Avengers seemed like a great option and Melinda was glad that Coulson had got Fitz to call them in or no doubt they would all be dead right now. 

It wasn't easy, that was for sure. The recovery wont be easy, but hopefully, now that they are residing in a secure building with the world first response team to mankind disasters protecting them, they might be able to recovery properly. Rather than sweeping everything under a rug and pretending it's okay. 

Melinda sighed softly and gently rolled herself onto her side, stilling herself when Skye let out a small mumble before pushing herself closer to Melinda, gripping her top in her sleep. Melinda almost smiled at Skye clinging to her in her sleep, it made her feel useful when she knows that the girl is prone to nightmares. Looking over the top of Skye's body, she found her wife curled up on the other side of Skye, from the looks of things, she did have one arm wrapped protectively around the girl's waist. Until Skye moved closer to May. Now her finger tips were barely brushing Skye's back.

Her face was currently scrunched up as she sleepily began to move her hand, searching for the body it was just residing on. Natasha lifted her head, looking confused. 

“I was literally just holding her.” She mumbled sleepily, shifting closer to Skye and falling back into her previous position. “Was keepin' me warm” she continued in the same sleepy tone. Totally adorable. 

“Mmm, I shifted onto my side, so she followed.” Melinda explained, carefully stretching herself over Skye, trying not to move her and place a soft kiss on Natasha's lips.

“Mmm, now, if only Skye wasn't in the bed with us, that could have lead to many fun things.” Natasha said, opening her eyes and propping herself up on her elbow so she could look at Melinda more clearly. “What are you doing up anyways, Mel?” Natasha asked, the sleep in her voice gone. Super spy ability. 

Melinda mirrored Natasha's position, making sure Skye was still sleeping against her before replying “I couldn't sleep after what happened. Been thinking.” 

“About?”

“Everything.” Melinda replied nonchalantly. 

“That's vague.” Natasha said cautiously, eyeing Melinda warily. She was not a fan when her wife wouldn't explain what she was thinking or feeling. Melinda was very good at hiding her feelings.

Melinda smiled weakly at her wife, she understood the wariness that Natasha was giving her “Don't worry 'Tasha. To be precise, I was thinking about everything that has led to this moment. The team. The missions. The ups and downs. Everything.”

“So what's you assessment then?” Natasha asked calmly, knowing that her wife was thinking everything through, to see if there was anything she could have done to prevent this, or at least ease the pain of her team. 

“That, given the circumstances, there wasn't anything we could have done really to prevent this. That this has been brewing for months. That I'm scared that the agents I have under my wing, Jemma; Leo; Skye and Bobbi, are not going to be okay. The four of them have been through so much recently that I'm not sure how to help them. Normally I had Bobbi and Mack look after Fitz and Simmons because she was able to understand them on a scholar level that no one else could and then Bobbi, Mack and Hunter would look after each other and I kept my eye on Skye and Coulson and it worked. It worked for a long time, but I never anticipated all of them going down at the same time. I'm just worried.” May ranted quietly, worry all over her face as she let out her emotions to her wife. 

Natasha smiled sadly at her wife and decided to climb over Skye. “Move up” she mumbled as she moved. 

Melinda shuffled herself and Skye to allow room for Natasha on the other side. She flopped down with grace and tugged her wife to face her;

“Skye can cuddle your back for a bit” she teased lightly, wrapping her arms tightly around Melinda's waist and began placing small kisses all over Melinda's exposed skin. 

Melinda just lay still, allowing Natasha to do this. It was a comforting action, Natasha repeating over and over with each tiny kiss just how much they meant to each other, how much they cared about each other and loved each other. Natasha finished her trail of small pecks by kissing Melinda soundly on the lips, pressing their foreheads together and squeezed her arms that were around her waist. 

“Now, listen to me, my beautiful Melinda May,” Natasha started in a small murmur. “You, in no way could have predicted this, not this, not this mission. Not any of the missions. All the things you have had to deal with since S.H.I.E.L.D's collapse has been horrible, traumatic and just plan terrifying really. You, personally, have been through so much shit and I get that you want to look out of the baby agents, but who looks after you? Huh? Coulson? From what I've heard he's been unable to tell the difference between his head and his arse. 

I'm not going to pretend that I understand what you are going through because I can't say I've been through what you are going through and I've been through many shit situations. What I do know, is that you are cared for deeply by everyone in this tower and that you need a break at some point during the day. I would say nights, because it means that I can hold my beautiful, selfless wife in my arms. Run my hands through your insanely soft hair and take care of any need that you may have. Any. At all. Okay? You need a break too.” Natasha finished, kissing May softly again, trying to convey her feelings on the situation. 

“You're too good for me.” Melinda mumbled, trying to hold back tears. It warmed her heart that Natasha was trying her best to understand the situation and understand how Melinda needed to cope with it. Most people would tell her to just focus on herself and getting herself better before worrying about anyone else, but Natasha understood that she couldn't do that and so decided to tell her that she at least need a few hours, each day where someone can look after her. That was something that Melinda could handle more, could appreciate more. 

“Nah, I think it's the other way around.” Natasha teased back, sweeping Melinda's hair out from her face. 

The two of them were smiling softly at each other, happy to be in each others arm. Sure, to most people it would be weird having Skye holding her tightly from behind, her face buried against the back of her neck, but it just made this feel more right. Skye was her daughter and Natasha was her wife. Her tiny, perfect, family, curled up beside her. Well, Maria wasn't, but Melinda would deal with her other wayward daughter tomorrow, as well as the rest of the time, but right now she was going to enjoy this moment. 

She felt her eyes getting heavy and decided, some sleep wouldn't be so bad after all. She shuffled forward and buried her head in the crock of Natasha's neck, softly kissing her neck in thanks. She could feel Natasha's chest vibrate with her quite chuckled. 

“Now I see where Skye gets it.” She teased, threading her fingers through Melinda's hair. “Get some sleep babe, you're going to need it for tomorrow and experience what a true day is like in the Avengers tower.” 

“I'm sure it will be fun.” Melinda replied, letting herself slowly fall asleep “plus, Skye and I aren't even biologically related so that makes no sense.”

“Yes it does, now sleep my beautiful wicked witch of the west.” Natasha said, a smirk on her face.

“You're going to make me hate...that...” Melinda trailed off, falling asleep. Clearly more exhausted than she let on. 

Natasha gave her wife one final sad smile before nestling down in the covers, double checking to make sure Skye was okay before going back to sleep herself. After all, it was only 2 am.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, another chapter update! A little bit more information and lil bit more plot in here as well!
> 
> Also, just realising I've been using my old tumblr on this, it is actually mockingbirdsquake.tumblr.com btw.

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a multi-chapter fic which will be dealing with these events as well as the previous events that they have delt with. Simmons has clearly not been taken by the rock and shall not be. Lincoln will not be making an appearance in this (well, i'm not planning to anyways) but other than these changes, everything that has happened in the show has generally happened in this fic.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr for updates on my fanfictions: mockingmorsebird.tumblr.com


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